I don't know if anyone has posted a thread like this one before.
I'm still new here (on CF) and I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know if this is in the right forum.
Here goes:
I know that many Christians (myself included) enjoy having heated debates with atheists and other non-Christian people.
After hanging around this site looking at some of the debates and talking with a family member about it,
I have come to the conclusion:
Debating an atheist, or other person who believes a lie and is fully convinced that it's the truth, is completely pointless and hopeless.
They will never accept that what you are saying is true simply because you can prove it or argue for it well in a debate.
Debating someone, is not going to in any way help win them or other people to Christ.
You can present the truth in the best, fullest, most convincing way possible, but a person who wants to be an atheist is going to stay an atheist no matter how many times you disprove their beliefs or prove the truth of yours.
If one the main commands from God that Christians have is to try to win people to Christ, maybe we should stop trying to save people by proving them wrong (because it's not working).
I think that being "the light of the world" does not mean telling people how wrong they are.
I don't mean we're not supposed to tell people that they are wrong, I mean that once they've been told once or twice, they don't need to be told again and again in different ways that we believe they're wrong.
Whether they admit it or not and no matter how much of a "logical thinker" they are, all humans think and reason on an emotional foundation. Therefore it makes since that the best way to win atheists and other unbelievers to Christ is by showing them the love of Christ.
It really bothers me that some (I think most) Christians start name calling and bullying when they get angry in a debate. That's not at all going to win people to Christ.
Instead of doing things the same way our non-Christian opponents in debates are doing, maybe we should try doing things differently. Be in the world but not of the world.
Just a thought.
I've spent years debating atheists, coming away from almost all of it with a similar feeling, that it is a waste of time. This is wrong though. Apologetics, a defense for the Christian faith, on every level is necessary. Though the blind cannot see, keep in mind, THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT GO OUT VOID! Sometimes we witness to someone and think, What the heck was the point in all that? You do not know where that person is at or what issues behind all their arguments can be touched in a special prompting and message by the Holy Spirit working through you. We think our thoughts are all self generated, but sometimes we are unaware that the Holy Spirit planted that very response at the right time for that person to hear.
Listen, I think some of these folks are either angry with God or are seeking something subconsciously, testing Christianity, testing our knowledge and it confounds them somehow. People see things that we have that they don't and are attracted to it. They come to this forum. Why? Just to bash us and prove us fools. Sometimes it appears that way. Maybe they are trying to save us from our delusions of grandeur (Jesus, Heaven, faith, hope, etc.) But they are here for a reason that maybe they don't understand. They could very well be working for Satan too - we don't know. They pretend to be sound, solid in their thinking and "science" (if you want to call it that); but they are lost and weak, pretending to be strong. Without God, there is an empty void, a sense that life has no purpose or meaning. I know, they brush that off as if it matters much.
My father was an atheist for most of his life. At ten years old, he had seven sisters, a mom and a dying Dad. He was brought up Catholic. So he knelt down and prayed to God to save his father's life. God said no, he died and crushed this little boy. So, from that point on, my Dad did not believe. Then later on in life my brother died and once again he was devastated. He said he believed less. Wait, I thought he didn't believe? See, he was more angry.
So what was I to do. I wrote 30 page editorial of various arguments refuting the TOE. I spent some time on it and gave it to him. That was my attempt to use apologetics. Apparently, it went on disbelieving. Then I wrote a book about Christianity. Let me back up a bit. There have been letters, long letters about my faith that I wrote to him and after so many, he firmly said, "Don't ever give me any scriptures anymore or mention the Bible ..."! Okay, so a decade later, I wrote this book and he said, "Oh, my son has written a book, I'll have to read it." I said, you told me once never to give you another scripture, this book has 570 of the most powerful scriptures." Well, he was weak, in his 80's, his health failing, had seen the better years of his life and finally, there was nothing left to look forward to. So, what's next after death he probably pondered. Well, his wife told me she caught him praying to God one day (something I recommended in the book if you were to take it seriously). I think this atheist made his piece with God before death. Why? Because I want to think that ... because he was my Dad? No. Because he was a good, loving man, a good father, a hard worker. He lived by Biblically principles that he didn't realize were in the Bible. He used to tell us to live by the Golden Rule. I told him, "Where do you think that came from"? He said, "It evolved through civilization." I said no, it came from Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And other principles too numerous to mention. Long story short, He exhibited gentleness, kindness, goodness, hope, peace, love, PATIENCE, self control. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit is it not? Could it be His work? Of course it was. He prepared him, because God knows he would someday return.
You'll never know what atheist will turn towards God, you won't know how or when, but don't think that all we do is a waste of time.